Curling machine



June 5, 1923. 1,457,549

J. o. RICHARD I CURLI NG MACHINE Filed March 20, 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet l June 5, 1923. I I 1,457,549 I J. O. RICHARD CURLING MACHINE Filed March 20. 1922 Q ShQetS-Sheet 2 June 5, 19

J' CHARD CURLING MACHINE Filed March 20. 1922 9 Sheel: et 3 Ju ne 5, 1923. 1,457,549

J. O. RICHARD- CURLING MACHINE Filed March 20. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 5, 1923.

- J. O. RICHARD CURLING MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March Juhe 5, 1923. 1,457,549

J. O. RICHARD v CURLING MACHINE -Filed Mafch 20. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet v OOOOOOO mleniam alto/way June 5, 1923.

J. 0. RICHARD CURLING MACHINE Filed March 20. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 June 5 1923. 1,457,549

J. O. RICHARD CURLING MACHINE Filed March 20. 1922 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Patented June 5, 1923.

warren s'r area I PAT NT eer e e i JosEPHo, RICHARD, orpnrnorr, MICHIGAN, essrenon T Haves MANUFACTURING COMPAN'LOF DETROIT, LIICI-IIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

CURLING MACHINE.

Applicationfiled March 20, 1922. Serial No. 545,014.; I

To all whom it may concern Be it known that L Josnrn O. RICHARD, citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Curling Machines,

chine has not been entirely satisfactory. Itv

requires an expensive" set of dies as dies have to be provided for the numerous knuckles or eyes. i

It is the object of the present invention to provide a curling machine in which the worlr travels past three sets of d1es. These (118% are automatically caused to engage the work and perform the two separate curling operations necessary to turn the metal into an eye. In order to save time. the machine works in either direction, that is, on the forward stroke of the work table a piece of material can be carried by the dies and completed. On the return stroke, a blank is set on the table and is completed when the table reaches its initial position. These features will be best understood when a complete descrip tion of the machine has been given.

In the drawings 1 Figure l is an end elevation of the ma chine taken from the left of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line -4t of Fig. 3. v

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the driving dog. Fig. 7 is a section through the crank or the driving wheel.

Fig. 8 is Fig. 7. v I

Fig. 9 is .a plan viewofthe worktable. Fig; 10 is a front elevation of a part of the machine showing thedies.

a section on the line 99 of Fig. 11 is an end elevation showing the dies.

Fig. 13 is a section showing the first ation performed on the work.

Fig. 14 is another section showing the sec-1 ond operation performed on the work.

Referring to Fig. 1, a designates a large gear wheel driven rby suitable connections (not shown) from the pulley wheelb. This gear wheel is connected by a crankshaftc with the driving wheel d (Fig.2). 6 designates a brake band that encircles the driving wheel. the bolts 7" is a dove-tailed crank member 9 gglapted to take the SllClG h (see Figs. 8 and Fig. l2 is a plan view of a piece of work. i oper- Clamped to the driving. wheel by Thi slide it is provided with aspecial stud i on which is; adapted tobe screwed the bushing [and the nut is. This bushing j serves as a bearing forthe 'end'of thecon- "necting rod m. The crank is arranged to take a long screw n which is threaded into the slide h. By loosening the bushingand the nut on the stud z the slideis freed sothat it may be adjusted with accuracy by turning the screw a. By again tighteningv up the bushing and the nut the adjustment is fixed.- This serves to regulate the throw of the crank so as to adjust'the travel of the ma- 7 chine, as hereinafter to. be explained, to knuckles of varying lengths. The-brake e is simply a split band that encircles the driv-.

ing wheel (Z and it is held against the brake drum surface by the spring 0. This serves simply as abrake upon the driving wheel to prevent the same overrunning .when the power is thrown off.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen-that the;

dove-tailed crank member 9 is connected with the sliding rack 10 by meansof the connecting rod 9; The length of the connecting rod may be altered by means: of theturn v buckle a" to accord it with any newlength of throw introduced into the crank. The rack 7? slides vertically in the guide-way s. This is shown in detail, in Fig.3. The teeth'of to the driving shaft w. Now referring to the rack engagethe teeth of the composite gear t. This gear is made up of two halves and has its hubs running loosely' on v the: ratchet wheel u, (see Fig 8) which 'is keyed has a recess 02 in which is pivoted the driving dog 3 The result of this construction is that p on the up stroke of the rack 12 the composite geart through the rack and the dog drives the drive shaft. On the return stroke the driving gear rides inactively over the ratchet wheel. This results in a step by step movement of the driving shaft in. The gear 23 is a composite gear so as to permit access to the ratchet wheel and dog inside.

Keyed on this driving shaft 10 are a pair of pinions 2 (Fig. 3) which may be shifted by the fork 1. It will also be seen (Fig. l) that there is an adjoining stationary shaft 2 on which rotate and slide the two pinions 3. The two shifting forks 1 and 4 are connected to theshifting rods 5 and 6 respectively. The ends of these rods are-provided with rolls 7 which engage in the cam race 8 of the dovetailed slide 9 of the bracket 10. The bracket 10 is bolted to the side of the bed 11 of the machine. A handle 12 is secured to the slide 9. By shifting this handle one way or the other from the position shown in Fig. 4t, which is in neutral position, either one pinion or the other may be brought into engagement with the rack 13 (Fig. 1) (Fig. These devices are simply a. means for reversing the drive on the rack 13. .The rack 13 is bolted to the work table 14 (Fig. 3) which slides on the tracks 15 on'the bed of the machine.

This work table is shown in plan in Fig. 10 and has a pair of outwardly-extending arms 16 provided with dovetail ways 17, arranged to take the slides 18. thru which run the. threaded rods 19. i gauge bar 20. By turning the rods 19 with These slides support a a suitable crank 21 (Fig. 1) the gauge bar may be moved toward or away from the back of the table to adjust the gauge bar to work with given dimensions. It may be clamped down by the nuts 100 on the end of the threaded stud 101.

Supported on the work table is a clamping mechanism comprising posts 22 set vertically on the table. These posts are connected at the top by the angle bar 28. The saddles 23 are provided at the ends of the platen 29. Wedge blocks 24 are secured to the ends of the piston rods 25 which run through the air cylinder 26 controlled by the slide valve 27. These wedge blocks engage against the inclined faces of the abutment block 102. The slide valve is thrown to one position or the other by the lever 30. The air is only used to force the platen 29 downward against the work. The springs 31 (Fig. 3) serve to lift the platen when the air is exhausted in the cylinder. Air is furnished to the air cylinder by a flexible hose 32 so that the cylinder may travel over the table. Referring to Figs. 14 and 15, it will be seen how the platen 29 clamps the work 33 to the edge of the table 14.

As already explained, the table moves step by step due to the intermittent motion provided by the ratchet gear and rack drive This movement is proportioned to the length of the knuckle eyes by means of ad justing the crank throw as already explained. In Figs. 14; and 15 the two operations effected on each knuckle eye blank are shown. The first operation is turning over the edge of the blank, as shown in Fig. 1 1. This is accomplished by a stationary die 3 1 fastened to the bed 35 of the press and a movable die 36 fastened to the die carrier 37 of the press. The next operation is the curling over of the knuckle eye as shown in Fig. 14:. This is accomplished by the single finishing die 38 slidable horizontally by reason of the cam strip 39 bolted to the die-carrier 87 of the press. This cam strip engages the roll 40 and forces the die out against the turned-over end of the knuckle blank. Referring to F igs. 11 and 12, it will be seen that there are two upper vertical dies 36 bolted to the ram and two lower dies 3% bolted to the bed of the press. There is a single horizontal die 38 slidable in a suitable groove of the press bed 35 by means of the cam strip 39 engaging the roll 40. Referring to Fig. 11,-il represents the two vertical uprights or guides for the press ram. The die carrier is designated 37 and is bolted to the ram 42 by means of the bracket a3 and bolts 44' and 45. This ram &2 is connected with a cross head a l by means of the adjusting screw 45. 46 designates the connecting rod between the crankshaft of the press and the cross head 14. The operation is as fol lows:

The work is placed on the table blanked out, as shown in Fig. 13, the screws 19 having previously been turned to bring the gauge bar 20 to the proper position. The block 46 is adjusted along the gauge bar 20 by means of the bolt 47, the slot 48 and the perforations 49 in the gauge bar. This serves to determine the position of the work sheet in one direction while the gauge bar determines the position of the work sheet in the other direction.

- The lever 30 is now operated to let the air int-o the cylinder 26. This immediately moves the piston rods 25 to the left. throwing the wedge blocks under the inclined abutments 102 (Fig. 1), thereby forcing the saddle-s 23 and the platen downward. This, of course forces the entire platen, piston rods and air cylinders downward, clamping the work as shown in Figs. 14 and 15.

The power is now shifted on in any suitable way. This starts the gear a, to rotating, forcing down the connecting rod 9 idly over the driving ratchet. However, the main crank of the press goes down and through the connecting rod 16 and other connections it forces the ram of the press down. The first action is for the nipping die 36 to turn over the edge of the knuckle blank, as shown in Fig. 14-. The dies then separate and in the meantime the connecting rod 9 is pulled up and through .the rack p drives the ratchet.

and consequently through the driving pinions and rack drives the table forward to the left. The-brake 51 (Fig. 1) serves as a drag.

upon the driveshaft so that it will not. carry beyond due to momentum after the driving.

effort has been disconnected." .This travel of the table is properly adjusted through the adjustable of the knuckle blank.

and finishes the knuckle or the eye. T henext following knuckle blank is under the right hand set of verticalemoving or nipping dies and-the first operation is, therefore, taken on the succeeding knuckle blank. Theldies now separate and the table moves again to the left. However, the finished knuckle clears the left handset of vertical-moving or nipping dies (the-latter shown inFig. 11). The knuckle blank has been turned in far enough so that with the aid of the notch 53 in the lower nipping die the knuckle does not come within thepath of the two dies. This operation continues until .all the knuckle blanks are finished. Then the power.

shifting lever 104;. (Fig. 2) slips off the end of the angle bar 28 and stops the machine by throwing out a clutch, not shown.

The work is taken out by releasing the air pressure in the cylinder 26, a new blank is put in place, the reversing gears are shifted with the handle'12, and the work table is started back. The action is precisely the same except on the backward movement the left hand set of nipping dies,"shown in Fig. 11, become active dies while the right hand set of nipping dies become inactive and idlers.

Although in the specification and claims I have referred specifically to knuckle eyes and knuckle blanks, these references must not be taken as limitations; but merely words of description. The structure claimed can be used wherever it is required to curl the edges of sheet metal; Hence the claimsmust be understood in this broad sense.

Also, in the claims the dies have been referred to as veitically-moving and horizontally moving dies. Obviously these are simply terms of relativity and hence not words of limitation but words of description.

That I claim is: p

1. In a curling machine, the combination of two pairs of vertically-operating dies for performing the initial curling operation on i a knuckle blank, a die for finishing the curling operation on a preceding knuckle blank, the vertically-operating dies being arranged so that with the movement of the work throughthe dies one set of the vertical dies become idlers when the work is moved of twopairsofvertically-operating dies for:

crank throw'already explained so that the'travel of thetable is just the length that the first pair of vertically-operated: =1

through in one: direction and {active when the "work ls: moved through in the opposite I d1rect1on,.and vlceversa.

2. lnv a curling. machine, the combination performing an initial curlingioperation' on a knuckle blank, a; horizontally- {movable finishing. die for" completing "the zcurling operation, said vertically-operating dies be 111g arrangedso. that when: the workigoes through the dies inone direction the finished knuckle eye clearsrone set of vertically-moving dies so as tov make idlersv of .the same and} when the'work goes through infthe'opposite 80.

direction. the finished eye I or knuckle. clears the other set of verticallyroperated. -dies. to

' make them idlers.

3. Ina curling.niachine, the combination.

of two pairs of. vertically-operating dies for erforming an initial curling operation on a knuckle blank, a horizontally-moving finishing die located between. thetwo pair's of vert-ical dies,'the said'dies being arranged so dies serves-to operate upon theknuckle or eye while the work passes the second setof vertically-operating dies which are idlers but which become active dies; when; the work. is passed through in theopposite direction. i. A curling machine,'having.in combina; tion', .a pair of vertically-operating.dies' for performing an initial curling operation on knuckle blanks, ,a

horizontally ;-;movi'ng finishing die" for 'performing the finishing I operation on the preceding knuckle blank, and apressramcarryingthe-upper vertically-operating die and simultaneously ac'- I tuating the finishing die. i

' A curling machine, having in lcombinaa. tion, a pair of vertically-operating.-diesfor performing the initial curling operation on the lmuckle blanks, a horizontally-movable finishing die for performing the finishingoperation on the preceding knuckle blank, a ram carrying the upper vertically-operated die, and a cam strip carriedby the'ram engaging the i-horizontally-moving finishing die but simultaneously actuating the dies.

6. A curling machine,hav ing in combi-.

nation, a traveling table for supporting a sheet of metal provided with a plurality of knuckle blanks, vertically operating dies for initially forming the knuckle eye and a.

,- horizontally-operating die for finishing the curling operation, a press provided with a vertically-movlng ramfor carrying thejver-1 tically-operating dies and simultaneously I operating the horizontally-moving die, and 1 connections between the press and thework table for intermittently moving the work table while the dies are separated.

7. A curling machine, having in comb-ina tion, a reciprocating work table, a plurality of dies for operating on a portion'of the blank to curl the same into a knuckle eye,

means for intermittently moving, the table. to bring SUCCGSSIVQ portions of the work 111120 engagement with the dies, and means for reversing the movement of the table, the said dies being arranged to operate on successive parts of the work asit is fed in either direction by movement of the table.

8. A curling'machine, having in combination, a traveling work table arranged to [take a sheet of metal, posts supported on the table, a platen slidable on said posts, means -i0r forcing the platen down against the edge, and dies through which the edge portion of the sheet metal may be fed to turn the same over.

10. A curling machine, having in combination, a moving table arranged to take a sheet of metal, posts projecting upwardly from said table and provided with abutments, a platen guided in vertical reciprocation on said posts, a pair of Wedge blocks said table, platen.

arranged to engage the abutments, supported by said posts for. forclng said platen down against the sheet metal near one edge to clamp the same in place and hold it in such position, and means for moving the said wedge blocks towforce the platen down against the sheet metal, and'means for turningover the edge of the sheet metal.

11. A curling machine having in combination a travelling'work table for supporting a sheet of metal having one edge blanked out to form a plurality of knuckle blanks, means for clamping the. said sheet of metal, means forintermittently moving the work table, and dies for simultaneously engaging successive knuckle blanks of the sheet to initially curlone knuckle blank and finish the curling of the next knuckle blank.

12. A curling machine having in combination a travelling work table for supporting a sheet of metal having one edge blanked out forming a plurality of knuckle blanks,

means for intermittently feeding the table forward and backward When the table has been reversed, and dies for simultaneously operating on successive knuckle blanks to curl. one initially and finish the curling of the next one, the said dies so operable whether the travel of the table is forwarder backward. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH O. RICHARD. 

